Grant: Operating Grant - Priority Announcement: Institute of Gender and Health

Fathers have a major impact on child development and health yet little is known about their roles in preventing injuries - the most significant risk to their children's health. Unintentional injuries from causes such as motor vehicle crashes and falls are the leading cause of death and the fourth leading cause of hospitalization for Canadian children. Parents play a large role in limiting children's injury risks, but parents' roles differ substantially and require investigation. For example, fathers allow children to do activities that mothers may perceive as too dangerous. Most research has been carried out with mothers, leaving large gaps in our understanding of paternal impact on child injury. Several factors must be considered: notions of masculinity (e.g., 'injuries help make you tougher') may affect the way that fathers parent their children; fathers treat their girls and boys differently, encouraging boys to take more risks; and views on masculinity vary substantially in different geographic, cultural and political places. We will be interviewing fathers and mothers of children aged 2 to 7 years to better understand fathering related to child unintentional injury prevention. The places we will be studying include rural and urban areas in British Columbia and Quebec. Our research questions address how fathering as it relates to childhood unintentional injury prevention is influenced by perceptions of masculinity, gender roles and contextual factors including culture and geography. The results will help build theory, and guide injury prevention research and prevention efforts. Findings will be applied to parenting programs, will help target prevention efforts and develop evidence-based policies and programs.